Reply #8: I read the 50th anniversary book which interviewed survivors

[RamboLiberal]

and from what I remember the kids were not praying at their desks. Most went for the windows. Some making the awful choice of staying in the rooms or jumping to the concrete below from the 2nd story (which in a school was higher than probably a house's 2nd story).

There might have been some initial orders to pray but it wasn't as our nuns told the tale that firemen found students still at their desk praying.

Did the nuns really tell the children to sit at their desks and pray, instead of trying to escape?

Yes and no. When they first realized a fire was burning in the school, the central corridor was already becoming hot and filled with suffocating black smoke. Fire and smoke had not yet penetrated the classrooms, however. The nuns immediately realized they had to choose between sending their students into a smoke-filled hallway, and jumping from a high window -- both of which would have risked injury or death for the children. They chose initially to avoid both of these dangerous alternatives in favor of waiting for the fire department, which seemed the most prudent choice at the time. In an effort to help keep the children calm (and of course to seek help from God), some of the nuns directed their students to pray. Once fire invaded the rooms, any organized prayer ceased as panicy children rushed for the windows.

http://www.olafire.com/FAQ.asp#12